Data has long been called the currency of business, a medium of exchange for organizations seeking to gain competitive advantages. In today’s digital economy, organizations need ready access to high-quality data to increase efficiency, drive decision-making and foster innovation. However, as organizations collect and store large amounts of sensitive data, they also create significant risk.
According to an Infrascale study, 67.7 percent of organizations experienced significant data loss in 2024, primarily due to cyberattacks, system outages and insider threats. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that the average data breach cost $4.88 million in 2024, and is projected to reach $5 million in 2025.
Clearly, organizations need to prioritize data protection, but that can be difficult with data scattered across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Organizations need a comprehensive approach to securing data across the digital ecosystem.
That’s the role of data security posture management (DSPM). It helps organizations locate data, determine its secure posture and identify which users have access to it. Organizations gain continuous visibility and control over data no matter where it resides so they can proactively address vulnerabilities and risks.
DSPM: A Different Approach to Protecting Data
Traditional security tools protect data by securing the systems, devices and applications that store, transfer or process it. They are designed to prevent unauthorized access and detect and block malicious behavior. However, they leave gaps in data protection, particularly as organizations adopt AI and other advanced technologies.
So-called “shadow data” is particularly at risk. Many organizations have data that isn’t monitored, managed or backed up, and the volume of this data continues to increase. Users often store data in cloud applications and platforms without IT’s knowledge or approval. They are also entering sensitive data into publicly available AI tools.
DSPM solutions turn the traditional security model on its head with a focus on protecting data first. They continuously scan for sensitive data anywhere it might reside and classify it according to predefined criteria. They then identify vulnerabilities associated with data assets, such as misconfigurations, excess permissions and security policy violations.
Real-time dashboards and reports prioritize vulnerabilities so that IT teams can focus on the most critical issues. Some DSPM tools can also modify configurations, access controls and security settings automatically to protect data from potential loss or exposure.
DSPM As Part of a Broader Data Protection Strategy
DSPM solutions can be used with security information and event management (SIEM) platforms to provide additional context to the security posture of data assets. Data loss prevention (DLP) tools work with DSPM to better track data moving through the network and enforce security policies. By integrating DSPM with identity and access management (IAM) tools, organizations can automatically fine-tune access permissions to protect sensitive data.
DSPM also enables organizations to implement data access governance for more granular control over who can access what data under what conditions. Too many organizations have an “all or nothing” approach to data access – users who are inside the network have free rein to access data. Data classification enables DSPM tools to enforce security policies and access permissions so that only authorized users with a need for sensitive information can access it.
In our next post, we’ll discuss the critical need to protect data within Microsoft 365, particularly for organizations that are leveraging AI tools such as Copilot. As Copilot searches all information in M365 data stores to respond to user queries, it could expose sensitive information or intellectual property. The DSPM features in Microsoft Purview can help organizations improve their data security.
